Hot Spots and Headlines: A Mariner Mediterranean Joint Live Blog

[Mr Rumor]

While the blogging trio of TravelCat2, RachelG and yours truly won't be on the Mariner 9/16-9/28 "Empires of Antiquity" cruise until next week, we decided to "dock" a little early and start this thread now. For those who are currently sailing on the Mariner, you're welcome to post here, too, as the title of the thread is general enough to accommodate you.

 

When Ginny and I booked in February, 2014, the itinerary did not include the two Egyptian ports, Port Said (Cairo) and Alexandria. Instead we had a third day in Jerusalem (Haifa), an extra sea day, and a port stop in Patmos. Given the recent unrest in Egypt, there was speculation on our Roll Call that we might return to that original itinerary. As of today, however, we're still due to dock in Port Said on 9/21 and Alexandria the next day.

 

One change I think we're all anticipating: the cancellation of the Mitilini (Lesbos) call on September 17 due to the Syrian refugee crisis there. As was reported in the "Turkish Ports at Risk" thread earlier today, those currently on the Mariner had a sea day after their Mitilini stop was cancelled. (Ginny and I actually booked the 9/16-10/5 "Relics and Monuments" cruise, which comprises "Empires of Antiquity" and the 9/28-10/5 "Inspiring Isles" cruise, so we'll have a second shot at Mitilini on September 29.)

 

Even though we've had our moments of concern about our itinerary, Ginny and I are very excited to be doing this cruise, which will be Regent cruise No. 10 for us, and our first on the Mariner since Miami-Lima in 2013. I haven't been to Israel and Egypt since my Royal Viking Line days (1977), and Ginny has never been. Plus, we're so looking forward to returning to Ephesus, one of the handful of favorite places we've ever been. I spoke last night with an elderly pastor friend who recalled taking a group on a similar cruise some years ago and preaching from the very top of the Great Theatre in Ephesus, as Paul had done, awed that his voice carried so easily through this entire magnificent structure. I got goosebumps as he related this story, and I'm sure I will have goosebumps aplenty as we experience the many highlights of this cruise.

 

Avid Regent live-bloggers, Jackie, Rachel and I made the decision rather spontaneously on our Roll Call to try a joint blog rather than blog separately. We hope you'll enjoy the result. Between us, even with the port-laden itinerary and ultra-long excursion days in Israel and Egypt, we should be able to give you a comprehensive account of our cruise from our individual perspectives (we also encourage other CCers on our cruise to join in). Questions? Requests for specific bits of onboard info? Let us know. We're glad to have you along.

 

OK, TravelCat2 and RachelG, over to you!

 

Rich

 

 

Empires of Antiquity

[Travelcat2]

Rich - fabulous opening post. You covered everything so well!

 

This is our second time in Israel, third time in Egypt and Ephesus and forth in Istanbul (and is unbelievably our 21st Regent cruise). Sometimes we don't plan on returning to places multiple times but it just happens. This was a 4th of July special booking for us so we won't have as many excursions as Mr. Rumor and RachelG unless our waitlists clear.

 

We are really looking forward to leaving next Monday and arriving in Istanbul 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Regent is putting us up at the Ceylan Intercontinental Istanbul.

 

Hope we have a lot of posters joining us on this cruise:)

[poss]

Looking forward to it! Thankee.

[RachelG]

Good job, Rich, on your excellent introduction. Though we too booked early, when there were 3 days in Israel, and a day in Patmos, and were disappointed with the changes to the schedule, we are still excited to be going.

 

I think Lesbos is a no go, since they had a sea day there today due to the refugee issue. I am hoping they can find an alternative rather than a sea day. We went to Pergamon on the Diamond a long time ago, and it was interesting and is in the vincinity. I still would like Patmos back on the itinerary.

 

This will be our first time to Israel and Egypt, but we have been to Istanbul 4 times previously, Ephesus twice, and Rhodes once. That said, they are all places we could return to again and again. We are not planning to get off the ship in Port Said, but have a tour to El Alamein booked for Alexandria.

 

Whatever happens, it should be an adventure. We also fly out next Monday and arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday evening, but are staying at the Hilton bosmonti. It will also be our first international flight on Turkish airways, so I will report on that as well.

Edited September 7, 2015 by RachelG
Spelling

[xrvlcruiser]

Looking forward to this!

 

Peggy

[Mr Rumor]

Good--all HS&H live bloggers present and accounted for! Poss and Peggy, glad to have you with us.

 

I was surprised when we received our Cruise Vacation Summary from Regent to see that a September 16 "Complimentary City Highlights Tour" of Istanbul had been added to our list of "Pre-Purchased Tours." We've had the Pre-Cruise Hotel on most of our cruises, and, like before, we were expecting to have breakfast on embarkation day, then hang around the hotel until it was time to be transported to the ship. So the morning tour is a nice add for us. (Maybe not so great for you, Travelcat2, given your late arrival on the 15th? I imagine one could opt out of the tour, sleep in, then take a cab to the ship.)

 

Another first for us our cruise (again, we're staying on an extra week for "Inspiring Isles") is our "Forced Overnight" in Athens after we debark on October 5. I didn't bother to check to see if we could have deviated to return on debarkation day because, frankly, we're delighted to have a day in Athens, where Ginny has never been. We've booked a five-hour city tour, and will relax the rest of the day in our hotel.

 

Rich

Edited September 7, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[iamheisenberg]

Wonderful idea!

 

I am also looking forward to it.

[Travelcat2]

Mr. Rumor - thank you for bringing this to our attention (obviously I don't read our Final Documents very well). Our plan at the moment is to take a taxi on our own to the ship at noon to avoid the busload(s) of people that will arrive at approximately 12:30 p.m. As you mentioned, we arrive very late on Tuesday night. We'll be lucky to get into our room by 1:00 a.m. I'm sure that the tour will be lovely and appreciate the fact that Regent thought of doing this for their passengers.:)

[Mr Rumor]

To help prep Ginny for the adventures ahead, I dug into my store of slides from Royal Viking Line days this morning to see what I could turn up from my visits to Greece, Israel and Egypt in 1977. I paused as I came upon slides from my Danish printer friend Jess' and my foray on foot into the heart of Alexandria, where the Mariner is scheduled to dock on September 22. What an experience that was!

 

We hadn't gone far that morning when we were approached by a young man who pitched his personal guide services to us. When we cheerfully brushed him off, he turned solemn: "Well, then, I won't be able to guarantee your safety."

 

Undaunted (ah, youth!), we continued on and found ourselves captivated by this teeming, rundown city. Everywhere we looked we saw a photo. It was as if Alexandria were a gigantic Hollywood set, with people conducting their business, and just living daily life, in the open air.

 

It wasn't long before we realized we had not seen another crew member from the Star, let alone any tourists. We also noticed that, wherever we stopped, a curious crowd would begin to gather. At first we were entertained by the attention, and engaged some of the locals in conversation, but after a while we felt it wise to keep moving.

 

As we strode through an oddly deserted neighborhood on our way back to the ship, things began to get dicey. Upwards of a dozen teens were on our trail. As we walked faster, so did they. We had little doubt they were interested in Jess' expensive Nikon, and my Nikkormat and movie camera.

 

Then, suddenly, in the middle of the street, we encountered a middle-aged, somewhat disheveled man in civilian clothes, with a paunch--and a machine gun!

 

Hoping he would be on our side (i.e. on a neighborhood patrol), I pointed at the teens and exclaimed, "They're bothering us!" The man responded by pointing his gun at them!

 

They immediately scattered. We made it safely back to the ship, with a story to tell, and of course the photos I took that day. Below are several of them.

 

Rich

 

I recall this vendor being proud to pose for me.

 

This fellow, however, did not seem thrilled for me to be photographing his geese.

 

I remember scores and scores of people plying their craft or trade on the sidewalk.

 

Filming my friend Jess. We never lacked for company!

[Travelcat2]

Great photos. Thanks for posting them. Also happy to know that one of the trio of bloggers knows how to post photos on CC:)

[irishwitchy]

Great story and a wow. I love the pictures. I can't wait to see what the 2015 bloggers write about and take pictures of!

[MikeD1000]

We too have been concerned about the situation in Lesbos, having seen many pictures on UK television news. It seems almost certain we'll miss Lesbos, but we hope that it won't just be a day at sea, because the next day is also at sea. CC news says Silversea is substituting Lemnos late in the month.

 

Istanbul isn't especially dangerous - alert level about the same as London, and I guess several US cities. Taksim Square, where the Regent hotel is, as the scene of demonstrations last year, but this year nothing reported. There isn't a lot to see around there, and, as TC2 says, the free trip on Wednesday is a must for anyone there for the first time. We have been to Istanbul four times, so we'll probably give the tour a miss, preferring a leisurely breakfast and a taxi to Mariner.

[RachelG]

I actually called Regent about Lesbos to inquire what the plans were. Of course, the girl I talked to is a sales agent, so all she could tell me is that "they are monitoring the situation and will not make a decision until closer to sailing". I pointed out that I didn't think it was likely at all that the situation would get substantively better in 1 week and that I thought it would be better for them to be proactive with an actual alternative plan rather than another sea day.

[Travelcat2]

On the news last night I saw a 10 minute report regarding immigrants boarding unsafe vessels to go to Lesbos. Lesbos is so close to the place where many immigrants are departing Turkey from that it could be seen over the shoulder of the reporter (standing on the shore in Turkey). The influx of immigrants will slow down as winter approaches as the seas will become too rough for a crossing in these rafts and boats.

 

I do find it most interesting that MikeD1000, RachaelG and ourselves will be visiting Istanbul for the fourth time. We are rethinking our decision not to take the tour - if only to avoid using a taxi. While we have not had problems with taxi's in the past, things are different now. Not certain what we will do.

 

The one thing I know that I must do is pack and that will not get done if I'm on the computer;)

[RachelG]

I feel ok about taking a taxi from the hotel to the port. The hotels are in my experience selective in the cab drivers that they let pick up passengers at their front door. It isn't like hailing a cab on the street (which I have done previously in Istanbul, but would not do now). We have arranged for transfers from the airport to hotel and then from the ship to the airport at the end of the cruise with a reputable company that I have used before. I feel relatively safe with these arrangements.

[scopewest]

Thanks for posting, looking forward to your comments.

[RachelG]

Rich, my office computer blocked your pictures (probably thinks they are some porn site), so I wasn't able to see them till now when I got home. Outstanding! I am glad that at least once of us can figure out posting pics. Sometimes I can do it, and sometimes it just won't work for me.

 

I have not started packing as my cat, Missy, goes into panic mode as soon as she sees the big suitcase. She is used to George's small one, as he travels all the time for work, but when she sees the big one coming out, she knows that Mom is going to be away. So I out it off as long as possible.

[Eager2Travel]

Thanks Rachel for posting about the safety of a taxi taken from a good hotel. We plan to do just that when we board the Voyager in Istanbul in October.

 

Also would appreciate hearing about what going through Immigration is like at the Istanbul airport. We were unprepared for the chaos at the airport in Rome when we were there in June. There were masses of people with no semblance of a line waiting to get through Immigration. We had never experienced anything quite like that and we have done quite a bit of travel.

[Cruisewoman79]

Travel Cat I look forward to your posts! I'll be following you! Do you remember Tony and I?! We were just in Istanbul for 3 nights in June and all went well there but the alert level is higher now. We felt very safe then.

I do recommend being careful with taxis to the pier - if they don't speak English it can be a problem for them to get you where you are going!

 

I also have clients right behind you boarding the Mariner on the 28th after 4 nights in Istanbul. I assume they are not going to Lesbos on the 29th.

 

Hope all is well with you!:)

[RachelG]

Thanks Rachel for posting about the safety of a taxi taken from a good hotel. We plan to do just that when we board the Voyager in Istanbul in October.

 

Also would appreciate hearing about what going through Immigration is like at the Istanbul airport. We were unprepared for the chaos at the airport in Rome when we were there in June. There were masses of people with no semblance of a line waiting to get through Immigration. We had never experienced anything quite like that and we have done quite a bit of travel.

 

We have been though immigration in Istanbul 4 times with no problems. All those times, you had to go to a window to purchase a visa on arrival. People would get confused and walk right by it then get sent back once they got to the actual customs and immigration line. I had researched ahead of time, so knew where to go and what to look for.

 

Now they have e-visas which you get online ahead of time. The process to get one was easy, and the cost is he same as when you got one on arrival. I will see how it goes at the airport.

[Travelcat2]

Travel Cat I look forward to your posts! I'll be following you! Do you remember Tony and I?! We were just in Istanbul for 3 nights in June and all went well there but the alert level is higher now. We felt very safe then.

I do recommend being careful with taxis to the pier - if they don't speak English it can be a problem for them to get you where you are going!

 

I also have clients right behind you boarding the Mariner on the 28th after 4 nights in Istanbul. I assume they are not going to Lesbos on the 29th.

 

Hope all is well with you!:)

 

You are so sweet! Of course I remember you and Tony - you are not easy to forget:)

 

Agree that non-English speaking taxi drivers can be an issue. We had one a couple of years ago that had to make multiple stops to try to determine where we were going. We eventually got there (and he didn't rip us off price wise). Now there are translation sites that we can use. Most translation sites still use Arabic letters..... for instance Cruise bağlantı noktası nerede is "Where is the Cruise port"? However most of the taxi drivers use the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. Anyway, I'm hoping that the someone at the hotel can write it down for us.

 

Really hope we meet up again on a Regent cruise. It would be fun!

[Mr Rumor]

Glad you enjoyed the Alexandria photos, Rachel (you, too, Jackie and irishwitchy)!

 

I'm happy to share how I go about posting photos on CC. I have a free account on Photobucket, one of various image-sharing websites. (You'll have to use an image-sharing site, so you can generate a "URL," which you can then copy and paste.)

 

On Photobucket, after I've signed in, I click the "Upload" box.

 

Then I either drag the photo I want to include in my post to the spot labeled "Drag 'n Drop. . . here," or click the box "Choose photos." If I go with the latter option, I locate the photo on my computer, click it, then click "Open."

 

After the photo has been uploaded to Photobucket, I click it and a new page appears with a large version of the image. On that page, on the right side, I see the words "Share links," and four options listed under that. I click the fourth option, "IMG." When I do, the word "Copied" appears.

 

Then all I have to do is go to the spot in my post where I want to paste the image, and click "Paste." It has worked every time for me so far!

 

I admire dedicated posters such as Computerworks and Col. Wes who, despite the much slower internet at sea, manage to upload and post lots of photos while live-blogging a cruise . Maybe it's the old journalist in me, but I prefer to concentrate on the writing of my "Random Notes," waiting until I return home to post photos in a "Photo Finish" post or two at the tail end of my blg. Also, I like to resize, crop and otherwise tinker with my shots in Photoshop (on my home computer) before posting.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Rich

[RachelG]

I have had no problem posting pics as you describe after the cruise. It is just while on the cruise, using an iPad, that I have difficulty.

 

Is Shauna coming with you? Would love to meet her.

[Zqueeze1]

Hi, all. We are currently on the Mariner and are happy to say that we are having a great time. A couple of notes regarding above posts:

- The Intercontinental Hotel was very comfortable with a friendly staff. We were upgraded to a club level room so we avoided some of the chaos in the breakfast buffet and enjoyed complimentary drinks and snacks in the afternoon.

-We took Regent's morning tour in Istanbul. Apart from the disorganized departure it was really well with it.

-For those not wishing to take the tour, Regent had a bus departing the hotel at 1230. You can take a cad from the hotel relatively easily and safely. Recommend you have the hotel write down instructions for your destination so you can provide to driver.

-Customs was a breeze for us since we took the business class line. Once completed, you need to look carefully for your driver since the airport is inundated with so many folks.

-Lesbos was cancelled on the morning prior to arrival so expect it to be the same.

-Hendricks gin is available in all the bars!!!

 

I will try to check this thread daily and answer any questions you have.

Z and TB

[Mr Rumor]

So glad you posted, Roberto, and that you and the Boss are having a great cruise so far. Thanks for the heads-up on what to expect in Istanbul. I loved your recapping of your 2014 Eastern Caribbean cruise (shamelessly buttering you up), so would welcome any and all tidbits you are able to share during the course of the cruise (or afterwards). I think I heard that Lorraine W. is the CD and Michael Coghlan the GM? And who is the captain?

 

Rich